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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My neighbours really smell…heeelp

362 replies

sjxoxo · 15/08/2022 13:22

I can see the ridiculousness of my issue BUT the smell is becoming unbearable for me to live with. We are attached on their side so our houses are joined.
The houses are very old- ours is having some renovations done, theirs was done several years ago so they’re not doing any work or anything like that. There is this horrendous stench from their house and I can’t for the life of me understand what it is. They are in their 30s and just had a baby like us, we are friendly. I can tell when their back door is open because I can smell the smell.. I have racked my brains as to the source but I just can’t think what it could be- it is quite a specific type of smell, kind of musty but sweet. Its constant, so not occasionally there- I can smell it any time their doors are open. I don’t think it’s a ‘rotting’ smell but it does make me feel a bit queasy; it’s thick, heavy and smells very very stale. Sort of sweet but not in a nice way. I wondered if they could be cooking with a certain type of oil or a fryer. I’ve never had one so can’t compare. I’ve been into their house before several times and it’s overpowering to me inside - it’s quite dirty (I don’t mean that as in insult) and their kitchen is on our side of the house; I can smell very strongly when she is cooking with her oven and the smell then is like an oven that’s full of grease and never been cleaned. You know when people have ‘their’ smell in their homes - obviously we all do and they are just that - it’s like theirs is really really intense and something is off with it. I don’t know if the smell is related to the oven; i have mentioned to her before that I can smell her oven and she did try and improve that but I just am at my wits end with it & don’t know what to do! I have these horrible thoughts we’ll all be on a Netflix doc in 20 years talking about something very sinister!!!! Heeeelp. Anyone have any similar stories or manky smells? Should I say something? What would you do?

OP posts:
TooSmittle · 16/08/2022 17:55

Bedbugs have a sweet, musty smell. I know from past experience with an infestation caught after my friend came to stay fresh off the plane from travelling. It was so traumatic I can still 'smell' it when I think about it.

I hope for your sake it's not that!

Tessabelle74 · 16/08/2022 17:57

Can't help but can empathise, my neighbour and her son both smoke skunk and if their windows or back door are open I have to close mine, it's disgusting!

Openup · 16/08/2022 18:00

Could it be mould?

AmIOvaryacting · 16/08/2022 18:03

cheekychatta · 15/08/2022 13:47

What does a dead body smell like ? Genuinely curious .

Show quote history

It smells like meat that has gone off...because it is.

SixToes · 16/08/2022 18:04

Weed lol
Whatever you are smelling it is not weed

AnnieSaxophone · 16/08/2022 18:09

Every time I hear about a stink that’s at the level neighbours complain - it’s a body. It’s a very characteristic smell (I used to work in a mortuary) - you could ask your local funeral director to walk past for a sniff!

MachineBee · 16/08/2022 18:09

It might be worth you getting a damp and pest surveyor to check under the floorboards on the party wall side.

AnnieSaxophone · 16/08/2022 18:10

Either way, I would say it would be totally reasonable to ask the local Bobby to pop round and suss things out.

Rosie22xx · 16/08/2022 18:12

I don't know what country you're from but in the UK you can make a complaint to the council and they can then go round and do checks. Can also report things like an overgrown garden, loud music etc.

tara66 · 16/08/2022 18:13

Old fashioned moth balls?

ALongHardWinter · 16/08/2022 18:15

Agree with previous posters saying it's probably weed. Also agree with the poster who said they don't understand how people smoke it thinking other people won't notice! It has such a distinctive smell, there is no way you can smoke it undetected! Crazy.

Coffeenoww · 16/08/2022 18:15

We had a full on cannabis farm a few doors up smelt exactly like this, police raided so it's back to being a residential house.
It's not unusual that cannabis users don't drink alcohol and I've know quite a few in my past line of work, I think the belief that booze and a joint can be quite depression inducing rather than buzz and relax.
In winter you can spot the houses growing in their lofts as the snow melts while it loves on everyone else's roof even happens in the nice areas lol

godmum56 · 16/08/2022 18:17

sjxoxo · 15/08/2022 13:28

Oh interesting thought @Rapidtango !! But I don’t think it’s that because they’re quite ‘conservative’ - they don’t even drink. She smokes but only outside maybe once or twice a day. They’ve got a baby about 4 months old now so I can’t imagine they are smoking weed!

bless you for your innocence

Purplespup16 · 16/08/2022 18:17

They or you are haven’t got any caucasian crosswort in your gardens have you? It can give off a weed type smell! It looks like this attached picture.

My neighbours really smell…heeelp
mumofgirl1 · 16/08/2022 18:20

could it be weed? I hate the smell of it it reminds me of bo my neighbours smoke it on there pay day once a month and my house stunk of it like you were a semi and it’s the side the house is attached to.

LoisLane66 · 16/08/2022 18:28

Agree with other posters. Weed can vary in smell according to strength. Best to ask them outright. Say it's affecting you. Should they be smoking such a strong batch with a child in the house? I should think not but I have no idea of the legalities. Ring the police and tell them. For all you know they may be baking with it to sell or even growing it.

Strangeways19 · 16/08/2022 18:31

A lot of people smoke weed that could be described as nice middle class.

FanfictionFan · 16/08/2022 18:33

Definitely weed, a lot of strains of weed in my area smell like you've described, the smell makes me nauseous.

You can always ring your local police station and ask for advice.

niugboo · 16/08/2022 18:37

Definitely sounds like weed. And given she definitely smokes something she’s not that conservative! Whatever that means.

LoisLane66 · 16/08/2022 18:39

Cancer smells. When I was a student nurse, two of us were changing the bedsheets of a lady who was in a private room. She'd had a radical vulvectomy. The smell was so awful that we took it in turns to go into the corridor, take a few deep breaths then go back in and carry on, taking turns but not breathing or speaking when we were in the room.
We both gagged after we'd finished. That was decades ago but I can still recall the smell and the room and the hospital.

Kazibar · 16/08/2022 18:40

So many people are saying weed. I watched a documentary about the house in the us where the parents had kids chained to the beds. They didn’t understand why neighbors hadn’t reported the smell to the council. Kids were being abused.

linsey2581 · 16/08/2022 18:42

Just because people seem conservative doesn’t mean to say the don’t do weed! The smell your smelling is definitely weed. I’ll bet their growing it in the loft like our neighbours did!

IsobelElsie123 · 16/08/2022 18:42

Is it worth bringing it up with her by asking ‘can you smell anything’ and telling her what you can smell?

Gandalfsthong · 16/08/2022 18:42

Agree about deep fat fryer or something like that. I had a studio flat in London and a neighbours flat had a similar smell, made us wretch it was so strong. It was a filthy oven 🤢

LifesTooShortForYourNonsense · 16/08/2022 18:47

I like the smell of weed…🤷‍♀️
Anyway, dead rats or mice have that sweet, gagging smell smell - if there is poison down and they go under the floor to die it can be awful, few weeks and quite localised. I used to work in warehouses where it happened 🤢